Hoof Watch: Tracking the Inevitable M. Wells Horse-Meat Controversy

Saddle up and brace yourself for a few weeks (if we’re lucky) of fallout over the news that M. Wells Dinette chef Hugue Dufour plans to serve raw horse meat in Queens in the near future, once his café at MoMA PS1 settles into a groove. “A sushi display case will serve as Dufour’s horse-tartare — yes, horse — station,” New York’s sneak preview noted, along with other details like the psych-ward sink and mess-hall-style trays. A few days later, horse meat is on the ten o’clock evening news, with anchors teasing the story during commercial breaks during Animal Practice.

Why not horse? After all, it’s legal, and viande chevaline is served regularly in places like Canada with no real fuss. In search of answers, NBC took the streets of Long Island City to gauge the neighborhood reaction’s. The verdict? Everyone seems unfazed, and NBC calls the M. Wells Dinette menu item “part of a growing trend in a diverse neighborhood.”

We’re not so sure that’s it, though: Calls for boycotts and complaints are already out on various websites and messageboards. With activists involved, what started as a lot of bologna — horse-meat bologna sandwiches served at GoogaMooga this past summer, in fact — may end up an entirely different kind of cold cut by the time Dufour gets his first shipment.